The Not-So-Good Parts of College Life

Now don't get me wrong, I love being in college. It is the best decision I have ever made. I love all the new people I've met and all the new memories I have made, however that's not what I am here to talk about today. It's not always sunshine and rainbows, and when people talk about college, they are often trying to sell it to everybody, so I've decided to tell you about aspects of college that not many people will tell you about.

First, you miss your family like hell. I chose a school that is about two hours away from my hometown, and while I can get to my family in that amount of time, it's just not plausible to do that all the time. I'm writing this on October 7th and I just spent the day with my parents and my siblings. This is first time I've seen them in 3 weeks to a month. I am very close to my mother and my sister, so that was a hard transition, and if I went to school even farther away, I wouldn't even be able to see them that often. It does, however, make it that much better when I do get to see them.

Second, everything is expensive. If you are dorming on campus, you will most likely have a meal plan, so food isn't that much of an issue, but if you don't have dinner before the cafeteria closes, you're screwed. So, you either go to McDonald's, or you go to the Walmart down the street and buy ramen or other cheap microwave meals. If you don't have a meal plan, you've got to budget for groceries, and that's not easy. Groceries are so expensive. And school gear? Yeah, you're not going to be able to buy a shirt for under $20 unless they have a sale going on. Sweatshirts? Forget about it. $50 a hoodie. If you don't have a job and your parents don't give you money, you're not going to have money in your account for very long.

Finally, all the time college takes. When you first come to college, it's super fun, you feel free from your parents, you feel on top of the world. Then classes start, and you realize you have no idea how to manage anything. You have to be the one to motivate yourself to go to class, your parents aren't here to make you, your professors sure as hell don't care if you show up or not. Obviously they want you to, but they won't go out of their way to make sure you do. However, in my school, if you miss about 4 classes, you automatically fail the class unless you have a legitimate reason. You have to stay on top of class, as well as your homework. Some professors will remind you of your homework, some will not. I've had to learn that the hard way. Also, you're going to want a social life. All of your friends are right there next to you, of course you'll want to hang out with them. Why wouldn't you? You've got to make time to see your friends, whether it be just doing homework together or going out on a Friday night. Top it all off with a job, you'll barely have any time left in the week to sleep. College is all about time management. Whether you know how to manage your time or not, college will force it.

With all that being said, college is a great experience. Hell, I'm just a freshman, but I can tell I'm at home here. Once you find where you're meant to be, all those things will seem so small. To me, college feels like a home away from home, and if that's where you're meant to be, it will to you too.

8 AM

If you're like me, you didn't really pay attention to times when signing up for your freshman year classes. That, my friend, will land you straight in an 8 AM class, and again if you're like me, that class is Monday through Thursday. This kind of sucks, however it can also be a good thing.

On the side of it sucking, I have to get up at 7 every morning to be able to make it to class on time. I changed my evening routine to: homework, shower, more homework, sleep. It's a lot more time management than just getting up on time. I have to go to bed at a decent hour to be able to function the next day, and honestly, I set three alarms to make sure I wake up on time, because I am prone to just turning off my alarms and going right back to bed. On one occasion, I actually did. My 7 AM alarm went off, and apparently I turned all my alarms completely off and rolled back over and went back to sleep. My best friend, and roommate, woke up and said "Hannah, it's 7:45, don't you have to be in class?" That was the fastest I've ever moved in my life. Usually I leave my dorm at 7:40 just to give you some perspective. However, I got up, dressed, packed my backpack, and was in my seat by 7:53. I was texting my roommate the entire time, and we were both shocked at how fast I was able to do that.

It's not all bad, though. Yeah, it might suck at first, but once I'm up, I'm up for good. I feel like I actually have time in the day to get what I need to done. I can actually eat breakfast for starters. I'll go after class and I have time to sit and have a nice meal. It's very therapeutic to eat breakfast by myself. I get to people watch and have some time to relax. Also, not many people are up at that time, so I'm basically by myself walking through campus, and I must say, my campus is beautiful. I'm not tired either. I get up, I make some coffee, and I'm good to go.

All in all, taking an 8 AM class has its pros and cons. I myself will probably not take another one, however getting up early isn't as bad as I thought.